Hope Arises in an Ember
by Reach For Me
Summary: Emberheart of Forestclan received a dream from Sunflame of Moonclan, requesting help. Emberheart comes to the rescue and helps save the Clan from an attack. But at what consequences?


**This is my entry to Waterstar03's "Until Death Do Us Part" challenge.**

**I kinda got into this story. It seems like it would be more than one chapter, but I just decided to do it all as one. Enjoy~!**

* * *

Wind whistled over the rocks. Emberheart's red fur ruffled backwards and he flattened his ears. A golden she-cat was making her way towards him, picking her way carefully through the rocks. A growl rose in his throat.

As the she-cat came closer, Emberheart noticed the light fur rimming her eyes. It looked soft. Well, all of her fur looked soft. Her fur was fluffy and looked it kept her warm against the cold wind.

"Please help us!" she exclaimed suddenly. He noticed now that her eyes were full of fear.

"Wha-," he started.

"There's no time to explain. Just follow the way that the sun raises in the morning and you'll reach a huge gorge with a river and lots of trees and grass." The she-cat began to fade. "Please, we need your help!"

* * *

Emberheart's eyes peeled open to the soft sunlight filtering through the branches of the warrior's den. Next to him, Palefoot, a dark gray she-cat with a light gray paw, also Emberheart's sister, began to stir, her pelt brushing his. Her tail smacked him in the face and he growled, swiping it away.

"Watch where you're putting your tail!" Emberheart grumbled.

Palefoot rolled her eyes. "Well, good morning to you too, grumpy tail." She sat up and began to groom herself.

Emberheart just grunted and sat up, his fur ruffled from his dream. His sister looked up from her grooming, her tongue still out. Her eyes narrowed.

"Are you alright? You look spooked."

He shook out his fur and began to push his way out of the den, saying, "I'm fine." Palefoot looked unconvinced, but didn't say anything.

Emberheart made his way towards his leaders den. The Clan was waking up, and sleepy cats began to push their way out of their dens. The deputy, Ravenfrost, was starting to give out duties for the day. Kits burst out of the nursery, their mothers following more slowly.

Emberheart stopped outside of the leader's den. "Ivystar?" he called through the branches.

The sound of fur brushing the ground and moss stirring came from the inside of the den. "Come in."

The inside of the den was small. In the back corner was Ivystar, who was grooming her gray and white fur in her nest. She arched her back in a stretch and sat down again, yawning. "What do you want?"

Emberheart stood in the den entrance. Ivystar wasn't a very friendly cat in the morning. "I had a dream that I believe is important."

Ivystar was suddenly interested. Her ears shot up and she leaned closer. "Go on."

"I was standing on a rocky area and a cat I've never seen before came to me and asked me for help. She said to go follow the way that the sun raises in the morning. She said that I'll reach a huge gorge with lots of trees and grass and a river."

Ivystar narrowed her eyes, her fur starting to fluff up. "Are you sure that it wasn't just a regular dream?"

Emberheart nodded. "I'm sure. The cat seemed to be really afraid of something."

Ivystar nodded and stood up. She walked out of the den telling him to follow. She hopped up onto the rock she used to make announcements on and called the Clan together.

Emberheart walked to the bottom of the rock to sit as cats began to gather. The patrol that was about to leave circled back and sat at the edge the crowd.

"Emberheart has had a dream," she announced. "Cats are in need of our help. But," she mewed, interrupting the outbreak of murmurs in the crowd, "they don't live near us. Emberheart told me that the cat that came to him in his dream seemed really afraid of something."

"Why should we help them if we don't know them?" a cat called from the crowd. Emberheart turned towards the source and saw Whiteclaw, a huge white tom with a really bad attitude, baring his teeth at him.

Emberheart stood up and the cats quieted. "If you had the same dream that I did," he snarled, "you would see that we need to help them."

Whiteclaw's fur bristled but he stayed silent.

Ivystar narrowed her eyes. "I am the leader here," she growled, her sharp gaze traveling over Emberheart and Whiteclaw. "But Emberheart is right. I'm going to send a patrol to find the cat. Emberheart will be in charge, of course."

Excited murmurs broke out through the crowd as Ivystar jumped down to talk to Emberheart about who they should bring.

"I want to bring Palefoot for sure," Emberheart said.

"Of course," Ivystar mewed. "Littermates are good to have along when you go into unfamiliar places. How about Honeytail and Hawktalon as well?"

Emberheart nodded. "That's good. They're both good at fighting and hunting, and we don't know what we'll come across."

"Good, it's decided then."

Ivystar hopped back up on the rock. She didn't even have to call the Clan together because they were still chatting in the clearing. "We have decided who will go with Emberheart. Hawktalon, Honeytail, and Palefoot will accompany him. They will leave tomorrow at dawn. This meeting is over."

Ivystar jumped back off the rock and walked towards Ravenfrost. Honeytail's white pelt fluffed up as she ran towards Emberheart, her ginger tail waving excitedly behind her. Hawktalon padded up and sat down with his tabby tail wrapped around his paws. Palefoot bounced around Emberheart, her fur touching his.

"Ooh! I'm so excited," Honeytail bubbled. "I've never been out of Clan territory! I can't wait to see what it's like!"

"We aren't going to for fun," Emberheart snapped. "We're going to save this cat."

"What do we know about this cat anyways?" Hawktalon asked, his amber eyes on Emberheart.

"Nothing really. But I know where to go."

* * *

The next morning all four cats got traveling herbs from the medicine cat, Meadowfur, and left. When they made it out of the Clan territory, Honeytail was trembling with excitement, her eyes so wide that you could see white rimming them.

Honeytail babbled on about how exciting this was going to be while Emberheart looked out at the territory beyond them. The sun was ahead of them, so he knew that they were going the right way. Finally having enough with Honeytail's voice, Emberheart rounded on her.

"That's enough noise," he snarled. "We don't know what's past this point, and we don't want to take any chances."

Hawktalon, who had been ogling at Honeytail, curled his lip at Emberheart. Palefoot rolled her eyes and pressed herself into her brother's pelt.

"Okay, let's all just calm down," she mewed. Palefoot looked pointedly at her brother. "As Emberheart said, we should keep quiet. We don't know what's out here."

The four cats took off again, keeping to the trees as much as they could. They walked quietly for the rest of the day and settled down at sundown.

"Why don't we hunt now?" Hawktalon mewed.

Emberheart narrowed his eyes at him, but nodded nonetheless.

All of the cats spread out, agreeing to meet up there again. When they came back, Honeytail had caught a huge squirrel with Hawktalon, Palefoot had caught a shrew, and Emberheart had caught a blackbird. They all settled down for the night and ate their own prey. Palefoot found a small alcove at the bottom of a nearby tree with a mossy ground, and they slept there.

Emberheart opened his eyes to find himself in the rocky clearing. He swept his gaze over the rocks and he found what he was looking for. The golden she-cat was padding towards him, her light rimmed eyes wide with fear. She looked up and saw Emberheart and her eyes shone with relief.

"You're coming to save us aren't you?" she breathed, her muzzle so close he could smell her sweet breath. She hopped up on the rock next to them, her blue eyes shining.

He nodded. "Yes we are." He licked his pale chest fur a couple of times, thinking. "'Us'? As in more than you right?"

She nodded. "Yeah. We're a Clan called Moonclan. A Clan is-"

"I know what a Clan is," he interrupted. "I'm in a Clan called Forestclan."

"I'm Sunflame by the way. What's your name?"

"Emberheart." He couldn't help but be entranced by her shining blue eyes gazing into his amber ones.

"Well, I hope you get to Moonclan soon. We really need your help." With that, Sunflame turned around and padded away, her golden fur fading away to nothing.

The four cats continued walking throughout the day. Over the next few days, they came across a loner, a few kittypets, a fox, and a small badger. There was no trouble other than that. On the fourth day that they had been traveling, they reached a rocky outcrop at sunhigh.

"We're almost there," Emberheart said, relief flooding him. His paws were hurting from the change in terrain on their travel, and he was guessing that the others weren't any better off.

After walking a little longer, the four of them reached the place that Emberheart had met Sunflame at. "This is where I met her in my dream," he mewed.

Honeytail looked around excitedly, but it was obvious how tired she was. Her ginger tail was drooping and her white fur was matted. Hawktalon's dark tabby fur brushed hers as they began to walk some more.

Palefoot walked next to Emberheart, their own pelts brushing. Despite Emberheart's snappy and independent attitude, he was very close to his sister. Their mother had been murdered the sunrise after they had become apprentices. They later found out that it had been their father, Foxclaw. Foxclaw had been exiled since then. The littermates had been inconsolable, and they kept to themselves. Even so, they still gave it their all when it came to their Clan.

Palefoot's teeth suddenly dug into his scruff and he found one of his forepaws flailing in the air. He had almost walked off the rocky outcrop. Beneath him was a huge gorge filled with greenery. Emberheart scrambled backwards and Honeytail and Hawktalon looked over the edge, awe in their eyes.

"Wow," Palefoot breathed. "It's amazing!"

Emberheart murmured agreement and they looked for a way down. They found a small stone path and began to pick their way down it. The path was so narrow that Emberheart had to put his paws in a line just to stay on. Palefoot and Honeytail, being smaller, didn't have to, while Hawktalon mimicked Emberheart.

A screech sounded above Emberheart and he glanced up to see a black she-cat glaring down at them with blue eyes.

"Intruders!"

Below them, a swarm of cats appeared, their fur bristling. A tortoiseshell she-cat and a ginger tom jumped upwards on strong back legs and began swiping at them with unsheathed claws. Emberheart hissed as their claws met his leg.

A voice sounded above the noise. "Wait! That's him! The cat that's going to save us."

The cats stopped attacking and Emberheart turned to see Sunflame standing on top of rock a few foxlengths away. "Sunflame," he mewed.

Sunflame's fur fluffed up and she raced towards them, her blues eyes round with excitement. "Hop down from there. Come on, they won't attack you now."

Emberheart glanced back at his patrol and nodded to them. They hopped down and the ginger tom hissed at them, his teeth bared. Emberheart crouched down, his red fur bristling and his claws unsheathed. Sunflame flicked the ginger tom's ear with her tail tip.

"Calm down Firepelt. " She looked at Emberheart. "They're here to help."

"You still haven't told me what the problem is," Emberheart mewed.

Embarrassment flooded off of Sunflame's golden pelt. "Oh, yeah. Come with us. Reedstar will talk to you."

Palefoot pressed up against Emberheart, her fur standing on end. Slightly behind them were Honeytail and Hawktalon, who were also pressed against each other. Honeytail looked like she was about to crumble to the ground and begin wailing. Behind the four of them were the cats that had attacked them. Firepelt was murmuring something in the tortoiseshell she-cat's ear, glaring at them.

Sunflame pushed her way through a bramble thicket and inside was the camp. The clearing was alive with activity: small cats (probably apprentices and kits) were play fighting and practicing moves, and some cats were sharing tongues or eating. All of them stopped what they were doing when the four of them walked into their camp.

Sunflame shot off toward a thorn bush on the other side of the clearing. She came out a moment later with a large, jet black tom. He padded slowly after her, his eyes narrowed at the newcomers.

"This is the cat that I dreamt of!" Sunflame said excitedly. "He's here to save us!" Sunflame purred and pressed her muzzle against his.

Before Emberheart could react, Palefoot swiped at Sunflame, snarling. Sunflame jerked back and looked at Palefoot with wide eyes. Reedstar growled and thrust Sunflame out of the way, glaring at Palefoot.

"Wait," Emberheart mewed. "Palefoot didn't mean to harm Sunflame. She's just over protective."

"What, is she your mate?" Reedstar snorted.

Honeytail sputtered a laugh behind them and Hawktalon let out a _mrrow _of amusement. Palefoot bristled.

"I'm his sister, mouse-brain!" Palefoot snarled viciously. Emberheart pressed his muzzle into her shoulder.

"Calm down," he murmured.

Palefoot relaxed against his touch and stayed silent. Emberheart nodded with satisfaction and turned back towards Reedstar and Sunflame.

"Sunflame came to me in a dream and requested help. What do you need?"

Reedstar rolled his eyes. "My daughter doesn't bother asking me things before she makes a decision. We don't need any help from rouges." He spat the last sentence.

Hawktalon pushed his way to the front and stood nose to nose with Reedstar. "We're not rouges! We're Clan cats, like you guys."

"What are your names?" the tortoiseshell she-cat asked.

"I'm Emberheart, this is Palefoot, that's Honeytail, and the one that needs to hold his tongue is Hawktalon."

"Back to the main problem at hand," Sunflame interrupted. "We're being attacked by foxes. They're all over our territory."

"If that's all," Honeytail mewed, "I'm sure that we can help out."

"Wait," Reedstar protested. "We don't need any help from these cats."

"Father, we do." Sunflame looked up sadly at Reedstar. "The foxes have already killed five of our cats."

Alarm shot through Emberheart. _Five cats?_ he thought. That was a lot to lose from foxes.

Emberheart stepped forward. "Let us help. We didn't travel this far for nothing."

Reedstar lashed his tail. "Fine."

* * *

The Clan made makeshift nests outside of the warriors den for the four of them. After everyone else had fallen asleep, Emberheart was still awake. He stood up and picked his way around his Clan mates. Sitting on top of a rock was Sunflame. She was looking up at the stars, a sorrowful look on her face.

Emberheart padded towards the rock and reached up it with his forepaws. Sunflame looked down at him and moved over to give him room. He heaved himself up.

"You sure like rocks, don't you?" he teased. Almost every time he had seen her, she had been on top of or near a rock.

"It's comforting to me. It was the last I saw my mother."

Emberheart turned towards her, all signs of amusement gone. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "It's not your fault. She had gone on a hunting patrol. Clawswipe and Heatherpelt dragged her into camp. Her pelt was covered in blood and she reeked of fox." She looked at Emberheart. "You know, I look exactly like she did. My sister, Nettlepaw, looked just like father."

"'Paw'? She hadn't become a warrior yet?"

"No. The fox attacks started when Nettlepaw and I were almost warriors. She died the day of our assessment." Sunflame's voice broke and her shoulders drooped. "Nettlepaw wanted nothing more than to become a warrior," she croaked.

Emberheart pushed himself against Sunflame. He touched his muzzle to her ear. "I lost my mother too." He told her about what had happened to his family and why he and his sister were so close.

"I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "It's not your fault."

Amusement glittered in her eyes. She turned towards him. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

He looked at her with shock. "I thought there was a problem with foxes."

She shrugged. "Yeah, but I know the best places to walk in."

"Fine," Emberheart sighed.

Sunflame hopped to her paws and threw herself off of the rock, pelting towards the entrance. Emberheart slithered off the rock before following her. The two of them ran towards the river and stopped on the bank.

Sunflame suddenly rounded on him and reared up on her hind legs, her forepaws swiping the air. Emberheart snorted and pushed his head into her exposed belly, knocking her backwards. Sunflame lay on her back with Emberheart standing over her. Their eyes locked together and Sunflame leaned up and licked Emberheart's muzzle.

Emberheart purred and licked her check. He moved off of her and crouched down beside her. She rolled over and lay with her paw draped over his and her body pressed against him.

"What does this mean for us?" she asked, looking at the river.

"What do you mean?" Emberheart asked.

"I like you. A lot," Sunflame confessed. "I know we haven't known each other for very long, but I just feel like I can trust you with anything."

Emberheart licked her shoulder. "I feel the same way."

* * *

Half a moon passed by the time they had arranged a plan. Emberheart, Palefoot, Honeytail, and Hawktalon would go on a patrol with Reedstar, Sunflame, Firepelt, Nightfire (the black cat that had screeched at them when they first got to the gorge), and Flowerfur (the tortoisheshell she-cat) were to attack where the foxes were living. They were to lure the foxes deeper into the forest. There was a patrol of four more cats waiting to help with the foxes. The rest of the cats were to wait in the camp.

As the second patrol left the camp to get into their positions, Sunflame pulled Emberheart aside.

"There's something I need to tell you," she whispered.

Emberheart ducked his head next hers. "What is it?"

Their patrol began to leave the camp. "I'm expecting kits," she murmured quickly before racing off after the others.

The patrol of nine cats slunk through the forest silently, keeping to the shadows. Emberheart and Sunflame hung away from the group, saying that they were watching behind.

"If you're expecting kits, then you shouldn't be on this patrol. You should stay in camp – in the nursery, no less- and avoid any fighting."

"I'm that far along," she mewed quietly. "I can still fight. Besides, they're your kits so we both know how strong they'll be." Sunflame gazed lovingly at Emberheart.

"I hope your right," he murmured, returning her gaze and licking her shoulder fur. He walked faster and caught up to the rest of the patrol.

It was easy to tell when they reached the foxes' home. The whole place reeked of it. The plan fell into action. Reedstar let out a battle cry and ran out into the clearing with the rest of the patrol. Emberheart rammed himself right into a fox and clawed at its side. The fox screeched and whirled on him, but Palefoot bit its tail. The fox snapped at its back end to bite her, but she crawled under it while Emberheart slashed at its ear. He lunged for its throat and held on with all his strength. The fox jerked back and forth, trying to get him off, but Palefoot was nipping at his legs and snarling.

The fox wailed and rammed itself into a rock, knocking Emberheart off. It whirled around and took off into the forest, leaving a trail of blood behind it. As the battle went on, Emberheart noticed that his patrol was beginning to get tired, so he yelled for them to start heading towards the other patrol. The nine cats formed a line and began to herd the foxes even deeper into the forest.

Cats suddenly sprang from the bushes. The foxes started fighting with desperation, trying to stay standing as the fresh cats attacked with their all.

Emberheart was rammed in the side by a huge fox. He fell onto his side heavily and was pinned down by a large tawny paw on his belly. He hissed and slashed his claws at the fox's nose. The blow collided and hot, red blood splattered his face. The fox howled and bit into Emberheart's shoulder. The fox's paw had moved up to his chest and was pressing down hard, drawing the breath out him.

Emberheart managed to kicked out with his hind paws and felt the soft fur of the fox's belly. Blood welled up in the wounds and the fox turned tail and ran, yelping.

Emberheart turned around and saw Sunflame trapped underneath a vixen. Sunflame writhed underneath her, trying to free herself, but the vixen bit her shoulder and began to haul her away. Sunflame wailed and pawed at the air desperately, unable to land a blow on the fox. Anger flared up in Emberheart and he snarled and streaked towards the vixen and Sunflame.

He veered off to the side and hopped up onto a rock. He pivoted on his hind paw and launched himself off of the rock right at the vixen, snarling at her. The fox staggered as Emberheart landed on her shoulders. He bit her ear dug his claws into the fox's flesh, feeling satisfied at the feeling of her blood welling up beneath his claws.

The vixen rolled over and crushed him beneath her. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sunflame staggering to her feet. He tore his eyes away from her when he felt the fox's teeth in his throat. Blood flooded from his throat and his eyes started to lose focus. Black edged his vision.

The fox bit down harder and shook him from side to side. He faintly heard Sunflame screech and slashed her claws down the side of the vixen's face. The fox let go of Emberheart's throat and took off into the trees, Palefoot veering towards her and clawing at her heels.

Sunflame whimpered and pushed her nose into his bloody fur. "Don't leave me!" she wailed. "I can't lose you too. Think about the kits!"

Emberheart's breathing was ragged and Sunflame's beautiful golden fur was little more than a blur in his darkened gaze. "I love you," he rasped. "You'll make a wonderful mother."

He could hear Sunflame's voice calling for help as everything went black.

* * *

Many seasons had passed since the fox attack. It was little more than a story now. Sunflame was now an elder. She had told her children the stories of their father: a brave and wonderful tom that had come to Moonclan to save them. She told them about how he had saved her from a fox and how he had died in her place.

Emberheart had been the only cat to die in the battle. Other's thought it was lucky that only one cat had died, but Sunflame didn't see it that way. They hadn't been the one to lose the cat they fell in love with and were expecting their kits.

They had buried him near the river, doing as Sunflame had requested. That was the place where they had confessed their love for each other.

Reedstar had passed away a few seasons ago from old age. He had served his Clan longer than any cat would have expected. Their leader was now Emberstar, who was Embersoul before, and also Sunflame's son. Emberstar looked just like his father and had been named after him. Sunflame's daughter, Paleheart, who was now a senior warrior, was named after her mate's sister. Paleheart had the same light gray paw, with Palefoot's dark gray fur, but with golden splotches the color of Sunflame's pelt.

Palefoot had been devastated at the news of her brother's death. She had become inconsolable, even by her own clan mates. When the Forestclan cats had left to go back to their home, Palefoot's fur had become shaggy and unkempt and her green eyes unfocused. A couple of moons later, word reached Moonclan that Palefoot had had a three kits and passed away during the birth.

Sunflame heaved herself to her paws and stretched her old muscles. She pushed her way out through the honeysuckle tendrils and out into the clearing. She saw her kits sharing a shrew on the other side of the clearing. Their eyes brightened when they saw her and Emberstar waved his tail at her. Sunflame waved her tail back at her children and squeezed through the camp entrance.

She padded heavily through the forest. She walked the familiar path she had taken many times before that. She appeared in a clearing with a river running through the middle. Sunflame walked up to the bank and sat down. She ran a paw over the dirt next to her.

"Our kits have grown so much," she murmured. "You'd be proud of them."

Sunflame curled up with her back fur brushing the earth where her dead mate lay. Purring loudly, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

She opened her eyes and saw Emberheart's blazing fur standing before her. Sunflame sat up, surprised. She was even more surprised to fell how easily she moved. She looked down and saw that her fur was sleek. At her paws was a heap of older looking fur, the golden fur a dull color.

Emberheart padded up to her, his chest rumbling with his loud purr. "It's good to be here again."

"Emberheart," Sunflame breathed. "You're finally here for me."

Emberheart weaved himself around her, his scent flooding around her. She pressed herself against him and purred lightly.

The two of them walked off together, pelts pressed against each other and tails twined. The sunlight faded as they disappeared over the horizon, starlight in their fur.


End file.
